Pro-Hillary Clinton group helping Senate Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — A pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton super PAC is dispatching staffers to key states before the fall elections and helping Senate candidates with fundraising, laying the foundation for a potential Clinton presidential bid in 2016.

Ready for Hillary said Wednesday it would send more than two dozen staffers to 14 states key to Democrats' prospects in the November mid-term elections. The states include Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina, home to competitive Senate campaigns, and the early presidential voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The other states are Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan and Minnesota.

Fresh from Clinton's weekend appearance in Iowa, the group is raising money on behalf of Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, a Senate hopeful who faces Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst in a race at the heart of Democrats' efforts to maintain its Senate majority. Ready for Hillary sent an email to supporters and planned to promote Braley's campaign among its 2.5 million supporters, something that could pay dividends.

"Our primary objective is channeling enthusiasm and helping Democrats. These are going to be supporters who are much more likely to engage early in the coming presidential election," said Seth Bringman, a spokesman for Ready for Hillary. Bringman said the group plans to raise money for Democratic candidates who receive help from Clinton this fall.

The pro-Clinton super PAC, which can't coordinate its activities with Clinton, has encouraged the former secretary of state to run for president and identified volunteers and small-dollar donors. It has raised more than $8 million from more than 90,000 donors since its formation in January 2013.

Ready for Hillary is planning to hold a strategy meeting on Nov. 21 in New York among 900 of its top donors planning for a potential Clinton campaign. The former senator and first lady has said she will decide her future political plans in early 2015.